Los Angeles based artist, SHI, has been making photorealistic paintings on wood for the last decade. Most recently her process has evolved to include a film grain effect using resin as well as experimental materials, giving each piece a unique finish + palpable aura.
After receiving a BA from Azusa Pacific University in California, SHI spent a year living + working in Japan. SHI currently lives + works out of her home studio in Los Angeles, California.
Statement
Making something realistic is really the ultimate exploration of abstraction. That's why I enjoy the challenge of realism - to capture shapes and colors most of us don't see initially. Working from a grid, building on individual shapes from large to small, is the initial painstaking step. This process allows me to connect to the composition closely, pushing every detail to as close to perfection as possible. But that's just the first step.
Playing with my own ideas of detachment, I smother the painting in resin with variations of additives for unique finishes.
The final piece then transcends my perfectionism + takes on the aesthetic of however the resin decides to spill over every edge.
Put simply by my mentor: "you recreated a photo + then figured out how to mess it up."